Best Amp for HD555

D

`danny

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
384
I just got a pair of HD555s and I absolutely love them and I want to get the most out of them by getting an amp. I currently have them hooked up to a Onkyo TX-DS595 receiver and they sound good but I have heard that an amp helps create a tighter sounding bass and better treble. I am wondering what would be my best choice in choosing an amp for these things? I have a $300 budget by the way.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
Hmm, this is a hard one. I used to own the HD555s and imo they sound decent un-amplified and don't improve enough with amplification to justify the cost. If you're budget is $300, you might want to sell the HD555s and move to another pair of headphones and split your budget between new headphones and a new amplifier. When you say better treble, are you looking for more resolution and refinement, or do you just want more emphasis of the highs? If you would really like to keep the HD555s, a good pairing with the HD5X5 series is the Meier Audio Corda Head-Five. It can be picked up for about $180-190 these days and has excellent synergy with these Senns. Another option would be a Gilmore Lite without the DPS but imo this set-up sounded too sterile for my tastes.
 
When I say better treble I mean more clearer highs. While the highs sound good I want to see if an amp can make them sound even better.
 
Do not bother amping 555s. Get some better headphones instead. Unamped the 555 sounds about the same as amped and is not worth spending $$ on anyway.

The best sonic improvement would be to get some AT 700 or 900 which do not need or benefit from an amp.
 
I have 595 and they do not sound the same unamped as amped. That is a myth. I use an Audiolab amp and the bass is deeper amped, even using the classA amp in my EMU0404 USB the Audiolab still has a deeper bass, and that is playing it flat. Good dedicated headphone amp should be even better than my Audiolab. I know he has 555 but 555 and 595 are quite similar. Which amp to buy though is a hard decision and it's best if you go to headfi.com and read posts about the various amps you can buy and people's opinions on them. Some amps sound better with certain headphones and some are good all-rounders. Personally, I would look for a good all-rounder so that you can keep the amp for if/when you upgrade to a new pair of headphones. I might get HD650 one of these days but those headphones require a more powerful amp than my 595's. Thing is, my Audilab has a good enough headphone amp to power pretty much any headphone. But i would get better audio quality with some of the newer dedicated amps out there.
 
Thanks for the advice, was wondering if something like this would work alright?
 
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555 does not scale with an amp. Get a 580 or 6x0 series headphone from Sennheiser if you wish to remain within the same brand.
 
Whoa..i thought pinpig was only a speaker master, not a headphone junkie too :eek:


theres always the hornet for more bass with the 600 (RS designed the hornet using the 600)

and what are you referring to when you say the LD 2? sorry for the n00bish question
 
The Hornet is good amp but you'll get more performance for the money if you go with a dedicated home amplifier. By LD2, he's referring to the Little Dot II tube amplifier. I personally wouldn't buy this amp if I was the OP since he's looking for clearer highs and tighter bass, since most have reported that is quite muddy at the top end.

To the OP, if you can secure a good amplifier, the HD600s would be your best bet if you would like to stick with Sennheiser. They offer a more neutral presentation than the HD650s and have tighter controlled bass (Single ended, not balanced) than the 650s as well. Another option judging by what kind of sound you're looking for would be to move over to Alessandro. The MS2is sound like they would fit your musical preferences well and they don't require a beast of an amplifier to power.
 
He said he has a $300 budget. If he splits his budget on new headphones and a new amp, or maybe just new headphones, he could get a lot closer to the sound he's looking for. The HD555s don't scale up the ladder with better amping so there's no point in investing $300 in an amp to power them. Also, if he buys used on Head-Fi or even eBay, he won't have to pay anywhere near retail MSRP on the Senns and he'll pay less on the AKGs and Alessandros as well so they're not out of his reach. I don't believe any amplifier or any headphones recommended by anyone here has a used tag of over $300, most can be found new for less than his specified budget.
 
Yeah the 601s can be had for $160 or so and the Mini 3 or LD 2 for less than that. That combo is amazing so long as you do not mind the lack of bass punch. I love the AKGs for gaming and some music b/c the lack of bass allows for greater detail and 3D imaging than say the 770 which has amazing bass impact but it drowns out these details.

Heck, you might score some 701s for $200.

I would stay away from the Senn 600s for gaming. For music they are AMAZING but not so much for gaming.

Now if Head-Fi would just come back online.....
 
milkweg said:
Why are you guys telling him to buy other and more expensive headphones when he has said he just got the 555's? If he could afford more expensive headphones he wouldn't have bought the 555's in the first place.

Heed CanAmp is supposedly a good all-rounder solid state amp and is not too expensive.

http://www.heedaudio.hu/en/prod_el.html

You can order the Heed CanAmp from here.

http://www.blackbirdaudio.com/
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THere's no point in investing cash on a headphone amp when the 555 wont benefit much from it, if at all. It's a very odd phenomena.... I remember trying a $300 and $800 amp on it and none made a discernible difference in audio reproduction. I think his money would be better spent:

1. Keep the 555 and don't buy an amp.
2. Sell the 555 (or return) and buy a not so expensive AKG 601 or Senn 580.... begin looking for an amp for the future.
3. Same as #2 but buy one of the amps mentioned on this page like the LD2, etc...
 
skyline889 said:
He said he has a $300 budget. If he splits his budget on new headphones and a new amp, or maybe just new headphones, he could get a lot closer to the sound he's looking for. The HD555s don't scale up the ladder with better amping so there's no point in investing $300 in an amp to power them. Also, if he buys used on Head-Fi or even eBay, he won't have to pay anywhere near retail MSRP on the Senns and he'll pay less on the AKGs and Alessandros as well so they're not out of his reach. I don't believe any amplifier or any headphones recommended by anyone here has a used tag of over $300, most can be found new for less than his specified budget.
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I would never buy used headphones, that's just disgusting. And you won't get HD600 or 650 for $150.00 used. $150.00 for amp won't buy you much of an amp either. He should do as he planned and buy a decent amp now and later when he has more money can buy better headphones that will make better use of the amp. An amp will make a difference to his headphones but maybe not as much as he expects.
 
milkweg said:
I have 595 and they do not sound the same unamped as amped. That is a myth. I use an Audiolab amp and the bass is deeper amped, even using the classA amp in my EMU0404 USB the Audiolab still has a deeper bass, and that is playing it flat. .
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I can say the same, using my 595's right out from my comp , it is okay, going out from my compvia SPDIF and into my sony receiver, and then to my 595's, sounds much better, i am the furthest thing from an audiophile, but for me the difference is night and day.
 
milkweg said:
I would never buy used headphones, that's just disgusting. And you won't get HD600 or 650 for $150.00 used. $150.00 for amp won't buy you much of an amp either. He should do as he planned and buy a decent amp now and later when he has more money can buy better headphones that will make better use of the amp. An amp will make a difference to his headphones but maybe not as much as he expects.
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I got my HD600s for $160 shipped, granted I got it at a great price on A'gon but it just shows that it can be had for very little cash. Also, I've owned three HD650s, two used and one new, and believe it or not, the condition of the two used ones were higher than that of the new one I bought. The new one had surface imperfections on the paint and also had smearing on the gloss plastic trim on the grills! Most of the people on Head-Fi take very good care of their equipment so buying used is much less of a problem.
 
and you save $$$ in the process, which makes Head-fi so addicting
i got my 600's for 180$
 
I will consider the heed canamp but I probably won't sell these, at least for now. I do some gaming also so I don't want to "upgrade" to a pair that will sound worse in gaming. Thanks for the all feedback guys!
 
Well I am going to exchange the HD555s so now the question is, get the HD595s or possibly the hd600s?
 
unless you got a high end systems, 595's will be fine, i had to make the same choice and for the diff between the 595 and 600, the price isnt worth it for what you will likely be using them for,
 
skyline889 said:
I got my HD600s for $160 shipped, granted I got it at a great price on A'gon but it just shows that it can be had for very little cash. Also, I've owned three HD650s, two used and one new, and believe it or not, the condition of the two used ones were higher than that of the new one I bought. The new one had surface imperfections on the paint and also had smearing on the gloss plastic trim on the grills! Most of the people on Head-Fi take very good care of their equipment so buying used is much less of a problem.
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I wouldn't buy used headphones because it is unhygienic. The idea of wearing someone else's headphones in which their ears have been sweating is what turns me off. It's like buying used socks or underwear. Yuck.
 
milkweg said:
I wouldn't buy used headphones because it is unhygienic. The idea of wearing someone else's headphones in which their ears have been sweating is what turns me off. It's like buying used socks or underwear. Yuck.
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All pads on the HD580-650 line are removable and replaceable. ;) I've never had dirty pads but they can be washed or if it really disgusts you that much, you can just replace them.
 
`danny said:
When I say better treble I mean more clearer highs. While the highs sound good I want to see if an amp can make them sound even better.
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Most amplifiers do not have any effect on that. The only thing better amplifiers will give is better SNR (less hiss), more power available, and potentially slightly better bass response (compared to poorly designed amps that use input capacitors that are too small and cause a high-pass filter that is audible). It is a VERY poorly designed amplifier that deviates even .5dB in the audible range.
 
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